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Anchorian religion and mythology
Characteristics Harmony of the Universe The densely populated universe of Anchorian gods carried a fragile balance, as evil gods were very determined to put the world into jeopardy. The balance did not come from a dualistic divine structure, featuring a struggle between good and evil. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the good forces were so preoccupied with their innocent goodness, that it is impossible to speak of a struggle from their side. At the same time, the forces evil were hopelessly divided and were so busy competing and fighting among themselves that they were never able to make time for the showdown with the forces of good. In practise there was a third group of non-aligned gods whose main aim was to seek their individual pleasure. They generally found this by creating chaos and silliness, making them far too naughty to be part of the 'good gods'. Anchorian mythology features many stories following a comparable structure. A bad god or group of gods has a plan to do great evil, damaging aspects of the good life or even the entire planet. His evil is probably targeted at a particular good god. His plan fails however, either because of inner fighting among the warmongers, or because a god from the third, hedonist group intervenes. This god, probably one of the Shepherds of Displeasure, sees in the sincere evil of the bad god a chance to create great folly. The bad god is defeated while the hedonist god feasts on the (not too harmful) chaos he has created. The good god most probably succeeds in keeping his ignorance about what is going on. In the Anchorian universe harmony stems from the balance between these three groups: the Good, the Bad and the Hedonists. Some would therefore characterise the Anchorian religion as trialist. There are also other gods, whose stories are not connected to any big universal struggle. They are not good or bad and have no clear alignment. Gods Anchorian Gods are often divided into three categories. Good Gods * Fia, god of flower picking * Echem, goddess of slumber * Tachelt, god of iron, smithies and war. He has good intentions and plays a key part in the development of the country, but when evil god [] gets him drunk, he tends to go to war. In one famous legend Tachelt himself fought alongside the Anhorians against their foes. However, he got so drunk and excited that he did not only kill all the enemy troops but also all his own. * Karagast, god of idealistic but lengthy speeches * Karbonara, goddess of food, drinks and menu cards. Bad Gods * Menara, goddess of silence Hedonist Gods * Mockery, one of the Shepherds of Displeasure * Apathy, one of the Shepherds of Displeasure * Cynicism, one of the Shepherds of Displeasure Other Gods * Ever, god of little things. Created the universe and everything. * Hoost, god of family. As all gods were created by Ever, no one had any family. Hoost was the first one to start a family with humans and became the protector of the family. Other stories Bendeld was a merchant from Atadom with an ailing tapestry shop. When he heard from his friend about a treasure hidden under a big blue stone at a goat tower in Anchadya, it was not hard to persuade him to leave his store behind and to go find the gold that would instantly make him a rich man. As Bendeld got himself excited with the idea that he would soon become a rich and important man his journey turned into a rush. Hopping on the first shaky ferryboat he could find, he paid an exceeding sum of money to the ferryman to get quickly across the River Streddle. It didn't matter, soon Bendeld would find the treasure that would make him forget about any money sorrows. As soon as the reached the other shore Bendeld quickly went to the spot he had heard about. At the location of the goat tower he found the big blue stone, which he removed with all his might. But under the stone he found nothing. He looked and looked and dug a larger hole under the stone but still found nothing. Bendeld sat down in the shadow of the goat tower and tried to concentrate. He was sure he had looked in the right place. Waves of panic were now replaced by anger: his friend must have invented his story. He probably even lied to him on purpose, thinking it was a funny joke! Broken he went to the local village, where he drank so much he passed out.Category:Anchoria Category:Lore